Change of Fate Change of Being
by ShiverIntheLight
Summary: What if Elincia never met the Greil Mercenaries? What if the time period was 1793 instead of 646? When Princess Elincia is saved by Volke they travel to Port Toha, where the princess takes a ship to the distant country of Roeshan. Little does she know that this continent has problems of its own and when Daein becomes involved it is all Elincia can do but just hold her head up high.


Change of Fate. Change of Being

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for the idea, which seems strange in itself. I hope you enjoy it regardless.**

**Time frame: 1793 (Yes, Fire Emblem gets its own historical spin here and is a lot different from the time period in the game. Think of Crimea in this story as a city in Europe. That is all, now get going with reading :). Have any questions? Ask me via PM.)**

* * *

Melior burned. She watched the flames from outside her bedroom, golden eyes widening, pulse quickening in a simultaneous fashion. People screamed, the sounds of crashes and the whinnying of horses entered her ears. She tasted blood in her mouth from biting her lip as she watched the scene. She could smell the soot and flames from her open window, the very one she stood by now. Her hands clasped together, she could feel their trembling even without looking.

"Princess! King Ramon orders that you leave the castle posthaste!" A guard rushed into her room, looking frazzled, but still able to hold his authoritative poise. The princess nodded, grasping the intensity of the situation, and she edged away from the window. The screams tagged along behind her like a morose shadow. It compelled her to bite her lip again, although she knew it wasn't like her to appear nervous to a guard.

"Where am I to go?"

"Prince Renning shall lead you on an escort. That is the last thing the king has," The guard suddenly paused, as if he planned on hesitating to continue speaking. "The last thing the king has told me."

"Where is my father now? Is he all right?" Elincia heard the tone in the guard's voice, and she felt her senses lock and load. She knew something happened. Possibly something terrible.

"He is busy. Now come along, princess. Prince Renning waits for you in the chamber below." The guard stalked off, leaving the princess of Crimea to hasten her pace in order to catch up to him. All about them maids rushed about, frantic wide eyes and flapping dresses as they passed by in the halls. Guards trickled into the hall as well, joining beside Elincia, asking if she felt all right.

"I'm fine. But what of my parents? No one seems to tell me a straight answer," the princess said.

"That's not important now. What's important is the fact that you must escape from the castle while you can." A stiff-backed guard looked at her, mouth set in a line. "Let's up the pace, shall we?"

On and on they hurried, down two flights of stairs and through four hallways until their destination became clear: They weren't taking Princess Elincia to her uncle. They were taking her out the castle by themselves.

"Wait! What about my parents? What about Geoffrey and Lucia?" Elincia blanched, looking back at the castle as they exited from the back entrance.

"We cannot afford to waste anymore time, princess. That is what King Ramon told us. We mustn't worry about the Royal Army or the others. They will be fine."

"It doesn't matter anyway. Melior stands no chance against Daein...we're best off running and regrouping somewhere else," another guard put in, and Elincia gasped.

"You think that Crimea's capital is truly that weak?" she asked, blinking.

"All I'm saying is that with Ashnard's forces and this planned ambush, we will surely fall. The more that escape, the better."

Guards muttered in agreement with what he said and the princess knew she had no choice. _At least I travel alongside fellow guards. I shall be safe...but my father...and everyone else._

"I think you should know the truth, princess," the first guard from before spoke. "Since we are away from the castle, now is the time that I can say this. Your father is dead... Our king perished after Ashnard swarmed the capital, the Daein king seeking him out and killing him...along with your mother."

A harsh silence overtook the group and Elincia felt her breath catch. _No... That's not possible..._

"My father and mother...dead..." she spoke the words numbly, as if they were foreign and incomprehensible to her.

"We're sorry that we're the ones that have to tell you this. Your father only thought of you in the end, princess. He wanted you to escape, and your mother wanted you to be taken safely away from Melior. I know it is a hard...concept to hear but remember, you are all that Melior has now," another guard said.

"I..." Princess Elincia didn't know what else to say. A heat built up behind her eyes, and before she knew it, that same heat ejaculated down her cheeks as tears. _My mother and father...dead._

The guards continued to surround the princess as they walked but they gave her more room, as if thinking that it would help her. She wanted to splutter out a laugh at this, one that would most likely only end with her sobbing erratically. Her bosom hurt, everything hurt. Most of all, she wanted to go back to the castle, to make sure if her parents had really been killed and that the guards weren't lying. However, she knew that they spoke the truth. They had to, or else all the mania down in the capital wouldn't be so over the top as it had.

"This way," the leading guard beckoned as he took the group into a secluded alleyway. The sounds of gunshots and screaming horses could be heard clearly down in the capital, rather than just through a window on the third floor of a castle. Through the dark alleyways the guards walked, their armored boots clinking and splashing through small puddles of stagnant water and grime. Elincia winced as each sound of warfare entered her ears from the distance. Denying reality by saying that everything currently happening wasn't real didn't help the princess. She knew that what she saw, she knew trying to sugarcoat the truth wouldn't help her or anyone for that matter.

_Is this how I have to live for the rest of my life? A shadow in the darkest alleyways? An apparition of who I had been?_

"Beorcs are scum," a guard growled, clenching a fist. "They make wars based on their own desires, and what do the common people get? Nothing but a fistload of shit."

"You forget that the princess travels with us, Skeratt. Avoid upsetting her with that language," Another guard shushed Skeratt, who only muttered inaudibly, shaking his head.

Princess Elincia felt it best to keep her mouth closed for the interim and just walked, trying to hold her head up high despite her tears. She knew she should stop crying by now, but it was hard. It was so hard for her. Each time she thought of escaping safely with these guards an image of her father's face, slack and lacking of life, made her tears flow faster down her damp cheeks. So she kept her mouth closed, settled for sobbing inwardly, and watched her step, skirting blood and avoiding any potholes in the ground.

"There's the exit..." Skeratt muttered and Elincia felt relieved. The sounds of warfare didn't penetrate her ears as harshly as they had done before, but they still followed her like old loyal basset hounds stubbornly refusing to leave her side.

The guards looked at her, noting that her tears had begun to dry, and the leading guard said, "Princess, you're going to have to cover up your image."

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice a soft warble.

"You have to dress down, he means. We can't have Daein soldiers knowing where you are, since you're the only royal left in the Crimean family. So we brought you this." Skeratt presented her with a dark brown cloak with prominent stains at the edges. It had a peculiar smell to it, one hat made Elincia's nose wrinkle. However, she dared not object and quickly hefted it over her head, the clothing reaching down to her feet. It weighed on her like a second skin.

"Good...now no Daein shall know that you're the princess of Crimea." The first guard nodded in a rapid motion. "Just stay anonymous and you will be fine, princess."

Then he gurgled as blood blossomed from the back of his neck; a bullet wound. The guards grabbed their rifles, readying the triggers, but they too were hit by the unknown enemy's silent bullets. The princess gasped as they fell one by one around her, knowing that she would be next to die.

"It's just a poor wench, I wager," a man said, and Elincia knew that he was speaking about her. She felt her posture slouch as the man, an armored Daein guard, appeared from the darkness, blowing the small puffs of smoke from his gun barrel.

"I have to say wench, you must have been mad when you picked those guards to stick by your side. Why were you travelin' with them anyway? You tryin' to hide somethin'?" He stepped closer to her and the Crimean princess felt a tightening of fear in her stomach. _Just stay anonymous and you will be fine, princess_. The guard's last words to her bounced in her head.

"No. I am a traveling merchant, not a wealthy one as you can see. I enlisted on those guards so I could escape safely without being shot I stand on no sides in this war." It sounded like a weak attempt to lie and act nonchalant, but she squarely looked him in the eyes, grateful that his face softened a mite bit.

"I haven't seen your face around, so I'm guessing that you're just a nobody. A merchant huh? Traveling with Crimean guards from the castle? I guess I can take that excuse for now," the Daein soldier conceded and Elincia felt relief. She felt glad that her existence in the political world as the princess hadn't been made known. However she knew she shouldn't overlook things. _He may still perceive me as a threat._

She flinched as he lifted his gun and cocked the barrel at her face, eyes squinting. "I'm sorry, wench. However I cannot take your claims, nor can I allow you to live. King Ashnard ordered that we Daeins are to kill any Crimeans in our path. Any of them. So I'm very sorry to say that you," He put a finger on the trigger. "shall be seeing the other side in just a few short moments..."

"Not if she's with me," growled a voice, then the Daein man gasped, a dagger held at his unprotected throat. He tried to scream out a warning but the man behind him only sliced his weapon into the soldier's neck, killing him with a clean easy stroke.

"You...saved my life." Elincia trembled as the man came over, still not perceiving him as an ally or as a threat.

"Get out of here," he said and she looked at him, narrowing her eyes as she tried to piece together what he meant.

"Go!" he said in a louder tone, and the princess finally took the hint and fled, picking up her cloak and skirts as she dashed out the secret exit from Melior. When she looked back, the mysterious man had disappeared. The princess didn't stop. She continued to run, her heart in her mouth, her bosom rising and falling with each jarring breath.

To her it felt like hours. In reality it was only a few short moments as a river entered her vision, the gurgling sounds failing to soothe her. Elincia felt ready to burst into sobs again but she held them back this time._ I must stand strong now...I can't cry any longer._

After passing the river after splashing her face clean with the brisk water she hurried on again, thoughts of Daein men hightailing after her sprouting in her mind. She wondered about the man, the one that saved her life, then disappeared without a trace.

The setting sun bled through the tree trunks as she finally decided to take a break, a stitch pulsing in her left side as she sat down on a conveniently fallen tree, legs quivering. She listened to the birds as they chirped their final calls throughout the woods. Her hands clasped and unclasped; she simply did not know what to do with herself now. Her escort had been killed off, her parents murdered, and, to top it all off, she was all alone.

Elincia knew not how to survive in the wild world beyond the capital's boundaries. She feared that this night could very well be her last. She prayed fervently to the Goddess for her protection, lips quivering. All the princess knew she should do was listen and keep an eye on her surroundings. Daein men could jump her or worse in these woods. She swallowed and flickered her gaze about her, mouth parting somewhat.

A noise sounded to Elincia's ears and she sat rigid, breaths softening, eyes widening. Her body quivered, but she forced it to stay still, wanting to hear if the advancing threat was either human or animal.

A flash of black darted through the trees and the princess gulped softly, eyes flashing this way and that as the black shape neared closer from behind tree trunks. Then she saw a flash of a satin pink color and her eyes narrowed. _Daein men don't wear pink._

"Who are you?" she called out, her voice too shaky and soft to sound intimidating. A soft chuckle sounded at her words, then the man from before stepped from the augmenting shadows of the tree, wispy brown hair being tousled by the wind of his arrival.

"You're that man who saved me before," Elincia said and the man didn't respond, he just looked at her, eyes unblinking.

"Thank you for that anyway, my lord. If it were not for you..." "Fifteen thousand gold," the man interrupted her.

"I'm sorry?"

"I see that you want to know who I am. That will be fifteen thousand gold."

"You want me...to pay you money in order for me to find out more about you?" Elincia shook her head in amazement and incredulity.

He didn't speak again and the princess sighed. "My lord...I do not have money. I had just escaped from Melior and hadn't been expecting that you'd follow me. I know not why you want money in order to answer questions."

He fixed the headband on his brow, tying it tighter, then said, "Hm. Then I guess I'll have to let it slide. Considering that you're the princess of Crimea, I should have expected that you'd only escape with your wits."

"You...know who I really am?" This shocked the princess. Not many people, outside of her family and some close friends, knew of her existence. And those people were preferably involved in politics of some sort.

"A lone woman traveling with seven guards clues me in that you are of royalty. It isn't that hard to figure out, princess. Your little ploy to try to make it out alive as a merchant wouldn't work. Not one bit." The man hmph'd, then sat on the ground, brushing away fallen leaves and prickly Sweet Gum tree balls from his legs.

Elincia realized that he had a point. _Perhaps that's why the Daein guard didn't believe me. No traveling merchant utilizes in Crimean Royal guards to escape from a city...I had been careless there._

"Why did you decide to help me?" she asked slowly, looking at the assassin.

"So Crimea's royalty wouldn't get wiped out today. I also helped some other people escape. One including a woman with long blue hair..."

"Lucia!" Elincia gasped, unable to hold back her welling of emotions. _He saved my best friend..._

"Yeah, I saved her, along with this other man who wore a strange-colored armor. They were running somewhere, just the two of them, when four Daeins stepped in their line of vision, cocking their rifles. Good thing I acted quickly or they would just be carcasses now on the soiled cobblestones back in the capital." The he fell silent, as if thinking that he had spoken for too long and just stared off, looking at the distant capital through the trees. Elincia hoped that Geoffrey still lived, however she knew it deep down that he was.

"We must continue going." The assassin stood suddenly, looking at her. "It isn't safe to linger around in Crimea's borders. The Daein men will most likely kill anyone who had escaped from the capital. Trust me, they have spies all over in this land. Besides, the Daein men may already know that we had escaped."

"I understand," Elincia nodded, then stood as well, following the man as he stalked off through the trees.

"What's your name, my lord?" she asked tentatively after a long tense moment between them.

"Volke."

"Volke." She repeated it to herself to keep a record of it and he nodded.

"Do you belong in a mercenary group?"

"No, I'm an assassin. People of my class travel alone and take orders from none. It was only my good judgement that saved you today."

Elincia felt embarrassed for asking that question, knowing it must have sounded strange coming from her. Once more she settled for silence as they hustled through the trees, the Crimean princess making sure the hood of her cloak stayed on her head.

A crack sounded in the air and a slender tree next to the princess snapped, crashing to the ground, a bullet embedded in it, making Princess Elincia yelp.

Volke cursed audibly and shoved the princess behind a nearby thick tree trunk, hiding behind one himself.

"Daein guards?" the princess of Crimea asked softly, her voice jittery.

"Apparently they caught onto our trail quicker than I expected. Stay low, princess. Don't make a sound." He looked at her and she nodded, her heart picking up a rapid pace. Her hand twitched and she held it to her bosom, making sure she wasn't visible to anyone's sight.

Volke loped from behind the trees, then seemed to vanish, the only sound being his cloak and his other clothing garments flapping in the wind. Elincia strained her ears to listen, hoping to pinpoint where the enemies were. She heard nothing at first, then a scream sounded, one that made her become rigid. A scream of fright and horror. The princess hoped that it wasn't Volke who let loose the cry.

A stray bullet shrieked through the air and embedded itself into the current tree the princess of Crimea resided behind. She made a sound and flinched, her eyes darting about the area. Two more screams sounded, then faded.

Volke returned, looking grim, but accomplished as he wiped his blades clean with a handkerchief, then beckoned that she follow.

"They put up a bit of a fight, but they were easy to take out, princess. I'd suggest next time in the future that you don't make a peep. They heard your little sound of fright."

Elincia nodded and stuck to staying silent, forcing her heartbeat to slow. She knew she had to act strong from now on as she traveled with this assassin. She wondered where they would head to for shelter for the night.

"Volke, my lord?" she called and he looked at her. "Where shall we go for the night? It...isn't safe out here now that the war has begun."

"Of course it isn't. We will head to a place that I know well."

* * *

Night had already begun its reign as the assassin and Princess Elincia stopped in front of a large abandoned shelter, a shutter on the window flapping in the breeze with ominous tones. The princess shivered, then followed the assassin into the establishment, a match being lit and a lantern lighting up the surroundings, creating its own shadows.

The inside looked quaint with a small bed along with two cabinets and a stained gray rug that softened the hard wooden floor.

"Did you build this place?" the princess asked, but Volke shook his head.

"I found it abandoned out here and decided to spiff it up in case I would need it. Seems my instincts were spot on because I certainly do need it tonight. All that furniture you see here I had stolen."

"I see." The princess decided not to delve any further in his thieving and felt a yawn escape past her lips. The events of the day had tired her out and she now felt ready to collapse.

"You may take the bed for the night. Tomorrow though, be up bright and early," Volke said.

"Where will we go?"

"I am going to take you to Port Toha. Crimea isn't safe anymore and it would be best if you became "dead" in this sense. It would defeat the whole purpose of the Daeins to trample all over Tellius looking for you."

"But...why not escort me to Gallia, my lord? Crimea and Gallia are allies."

"Spies exist everywhere now, princess. If I escort you to Gallia, then any Daeins that find out will ambush us in the night or they may start trouble with the laguz. Then who will be there to protect you?" The assassin sighed. "You're better off leaving the continent, and then coming back when it all blows over."

"But...where am I to go once I reach Port Toha?" she asked, feeling frantic.

"You will take a ship to the distant continent Roeshan and stay there, princess. You understand? That's the reason why I said that you'd be proclaimed as"dead". No one knows who you are and no one will think twice about a woman wrapped in trader's clothes. I have some connections in Roeshan so don't fear about being lost once you get there. We'll talk more about it in the morning. You look ready to collapse off your feet."

He was right. Elincia yawned again, her head whirling, then she headed over to the bed, deciding to sleep with her cloak on her body.

"But, where shall you sleep my lord?"

He didn't answer. It wasn't until she laid down and closed her eyes that he said, "I'll manage."

The princess entered dreams that were dark and assaulted her senses in their own way. Most of the images she saw were of Melior burning, the fires raging, and common people screaming as the hungry flames engulfed them, hands reaching for some way to escape. Then she saw a Daein guard step out from the darkened buildings and cock his gun, its barrel pointing right at her. He moved closer, the gun now touched the skin between her brows. She closed her eyes and cringed as he whispered in a harsh tone, "Tell us where you are, princess. Before we kill you and all of your citizens." Then a crack sounded and the princess's vision faded.

Once she opened her eyes Volke handed her an apple and a small cup of water. She felt glad she woke up early on instinct, knowing that she finally did something right.

"It's all I can provide, princess."

If the Crimean princess analyzed it further, she would have thought that he sounded apologetic. She shook it away and took the food and drink gratefully, sipping from the cup and taking a bite of the apple.

"What about you, my lord?" She looked at him, a frown on her face after she chewed.

"What, you feel concerned for me?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about me. You won't see me ever again after today."

"You won't...be coming with me on the ship?" Elincia asked.

"No. I have other business to attend to. In other words, I won't be coming. I'll only help in giving you your freedom because you deserve it. You'll be fine, don't worry about that. I will remind you of whom to look out for when you arrive in Roeshan when we get to Port Toha."

"Thank you, my lord." The princess felt overwhelmed with emotion, despite knowing that she'd be all alone once again. She felt sure yesterday that her life had ended and there wouldn't be any second chances. Now it seemed that the Goddess gave her another chance to make the most of herself.

"Don't thank me. I'm only doing this for you because Crimea can get another chance to prosper if this plan succeeds and you survive. Now let's hurry before we lose time in getting to Port Toha."

"Right," Elincia said, then stood, stretched, and took a few large chomps of the apple, throwing the core in the garbage. Volke nodded and opened the shelter's door, then unsheathed his daggers, his poise growing rigid, eyes blazing. Elincia flinched as she saw six Daein men standing outside the door, their guns at the ready and pointing right at Volke, fingers on their triggers.

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_A/N: I thank everyone who was able to read this first chapter all the way to the end. :D I assume that if this story gets enough acclaim I will make it just as long as Struggle of a Fiery Heart, possibly longer if I dedicate enough time to each chapter. :D Let me know what you think about it, I guess. The cliffie at the end of this chapter should set the mood and tensions for the next chapter. Once again, as I have mentioned above in the disclaimer: if there is anything you want elaborated or possibly changed then let me know via PM or review. Criticism is as greatly appreciated as interest. _

_If you want a breakdown of how this story is structured or about the idea in general, then I will be more than happy to oblige and tell you right now. (If not then just skip this part of the A/N) :D See I had gotten this idea to write a Fire Emblem story in a time frame around a thousand and one hundred forty years later than the actual game's time period. I thought this may sound interesting, to see the new innovations in the Fire Emblem word (the guns, the horse-drawn carriage and the elaborate cities (later on in the story), the passenger ships, and the warships (also later on in the story)) So I decided to tie in history with Fire Emblem (such a neat-o idea right?). You will see elements of American history when Elincia actually gets to the new continent of Roeshan (spoiler alert, Roeshan will act as the continent of North America in this story). _

_Long A/N aside, I'm glad that you have acquired at least a small interest in this. Sure it has some weird elements to it, but I actually like this final project. If I can get around to it, Chapter Two shall be up most definitely by this coming Saturday, maybe even before. Ciao! :D_


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